Indianapolis vs. Cincinnati (Cost of living, weather, cultural atmosphere, etc) (taxes, size)

[MortonR]

Originally Posted by W & C

Ehh..can't speak for Pittsburgh but Tampa's a dump. What's cultural about Tampa ? Only Ybor city has anything that would even resemble an urban neighborhood. Downtown looked completely dead when I was there.

Haven't been in Tampa for a while, I presume?

Downtown is quite vibrant and has such a demand for housing that it's near impossible to find a place to rent. A new apartment building just went up two blocks from my office an an 800 SF efficiency is renting for around $1500/month if you can get one.

Jeff Vinick (owner of the Tampa Bay Lighting) is investing in a complete makeover of the downtown area that is adding even more great stuff downtown to the Channelside District.

RM

[W & C]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Haven't been in Tampa for a while, I presume?

Downtown is quite vibrant and has such a demand for housing that it's near impossible to find a place to rent. A new apartment building just went up two blocks from my office an an 800 SF efficiency is renting for around $1500/month if you can get one.

Jeff Vinick (owner of the Tampa Bay Lighting) is investing in a complete makeover of the downtown area that is adding even more great stuff downtown to the Channelside District.

RM

I'll have to take your word for it.

[Peter1948]

Originally Posted by W & C

Ehh..can't speak for Pittsburgh but Tampa's a dump. What's cultural about Tampa ? Only Ybor city has anything that would even resemble an urban neighborhood. Downtown looked completely dead when I was there.

I agree, that was a bad example but Tampa is not a dump. There are plenty of areas though like Hyde Park, St Pete, etc

That said, the point is Indy feels like a sunbelt city, not an urban high cultured city. Cincinnati blows Indy out of the water...and I dont even adore Cincinnati really outside the architecture in Over the Rhine. I wish Louisville had Over the Rhine down here and then it would be my perfect city.

[Ivory Lee Spurlock]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

I agree, that was a bad example but Tampa is not a dump. There are plenty of areas though like Hyde Park, St Pete, etc

That said, the point is Indy feels like a sunbelt city, not an urban high cultured city. Cincinnati blows Indy out of the water...and I dont even adore Cincinnati really outside the architecture in Over the Rhine. I wish Louisville had Over the Rhine down here and then it would be my perfect city.

How do you figure that Cincy is so much more "cultured" than Indy? When I think of Cincinnati, I don't think of "high culture", that's for sure. How do you correlate a Sunbelt city as not urban and high cultured? Have you ever been to Houston and their museum district?

These cities that are considered dense are usually older American cities that were pretty much built before the automobile and interstates came along. That's why so many of those Eastern cities and river cities are so small in area, square miles wise. I'm not impressed with urban density. I find it to be too cramped.

[indy_317]

Originally Posted by MortonR

Downtown is quite vibrant and has such a demand for housing that it's near impossible to find a place to rent. A new apartment building just went up two blocks from my office an an 800 SF efficiency is renting for around $1500/month if you can get one.

It is so ridiculous, and sad, that rents are going up so high. So many younger millennials didn't want the cost of keeping a car so they wanted to live urban. So now all of a sudden rents are skyrocketing in many urban centers, even in the so-called "low cost-of-living" states like Indiana. This is the United States of Greed though, so it is to be expected. I mean if I built a complex knowing that half or more of my renters weren't going to be paying $250-$450/month on a car, then why not jack the rent to take more of their money? It sounds like this is a thing everywhere.

[indy_317]

This thread is hilarious. Most city vs city threads end up this way. They all have the BRGs of their respective cities coming out of the woodwork with two bullhorns. For most of my life, I was never a huge "urban" fan. To me, nice urban living was costly. The lifestyle, for most, seems to be focused on doing stuff, constantly. Thus they brag about how they have so much 'to do.' I lived in Broad Ripple for a year, and I enjoyed it, but it cost me $500ish/month and even if I wanted to live there, I wouldn't have been able to afford a decent home. To me, a brick is a brick and blacktop is blacktop. Since I'm not a fan of having to have lots of "stuff" to do, or need a new costly, fancy place to dine at all the time, I usually only drive through cities.

This thread has got me started into considering visiting cities, or at least stopping on a drive through. I know one couple who enjoyed trips to Louisville, especially the zoo. Yet another couple were big fans of the zoo in Cincinnati. My wife and I did make a suburban (?) Cincinnati day trip to check out IKEA and Jungle Jims a couple of years ago. I haven't been to Over-the-Rhine in about 17 years, but I've heard it has changed a lot. Hopefully for the better because when I went it was to go to a club called The Warehouse on Vine Street. There was a guy with what looked like crack rocks in his hand talking to us as we parked (just making small talk, I think he knew were weren't there for what he was selling), and across the street someone threw a glass bottle at a wall near a Kroger and it shattered.

What I'm left wondering is where in the world are the people that live in all these hip, urban, cultured places getting all their money to pay to eat out constantly, pay for all these museums and what not, on top of what seems to be sky high rents? It seems the focus of the these city vs city threads have a lot of "we have more of x, y, and z." But usually these things cost money, and in some cases, they aren't cheap. I look at government stats of household incomes. I see what my wife and I make, I see how we have lived to get what we have, then I wonder how some of you manage to save a nickle to your name engaging in all this urban 'culture.' Then again, maybe people are pretty much broke, lucky to have $500 in savings, and living credit card statement to credit card statement.

[Dyadic]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

Indy feels like a sunbelt city, not an urban high cultured city. Cincinnati blows Indy out of the water...and I dont even adore Cincinnati really outside the architecture in Over the Rhine. I wish Louisville had Over the Rhine down here and then it would be my perfect city.

How does Cincinnati blow Indy out of the water culturally? What does Cincinnati offer culturally that just blows Indy away?

Originally Posted by Peter1948

...if you would allow me to show you around one Saturday, you would not believe what is going on here. I really cannot think of a city this size, outside New Orleans, which has this many happening urban areas and it keeps getting better.

Louisville is experiencing a cultural renaissance revival that is comparable to that of New Orleans? After reading your posts comparing Louisville and Cincinnati one would think the those two cities' tourism industry would be vastly superior to that of Indy. Since they both have all this great cultural stuff to offer general public then surely they are regional tourism hot spots. This truth of the matter is both cities lag behind Indianapolis in tourism and Louisville is certainly no New Orleans.

[W & C]

Originally Posted by indy_317

It is so ridiculous, and sad, that rents are going up so high. So many younger millennials didn't want the cost of keeping a car so they wanted to live urban. So now all of a sudden rents are skyrocketing in many urban centers, even in the so-called "low cost-of-living" states like Indiana. This is the United States of Greed though, so it is to be expected. I mean if I built a complex knowing that half or more of my renters weren't going to be paying $250-$450/month on a car, then why not jack the rent to take more of their money? It sounds like this is a thing everywhere.

What is ridiculous or sad about it ? Isn't it just supply and demand, like always ?

[W & C]

Originally Posted by indy_317

This thread is hilarious. Most city vs city threads end up this way. They all have the BRGs of their respective cities coming out of the woodwork with two bullhorns. For most of my life, I was never a huge "urban" fan. To me, nice urban living was costly. The lifestyle, for most, seems to be focused on doing stuff, constantly. Thus they brag about how they have so much 'to do.' I lived in Broad Ripple for a year, and I enjoyed it, but it cost me $500ish/month and even if I wanted to live there, I wouldn't have been able to afford a decent home. To me, a brick is a brick and blacktop is blacktop. Since I'm not a fan of having to have lots of "stuff" to do, or need a new costly, fancy place to dine at all the time, I usually only drive through cities.

This thread has got me started into considering visiting cities, or at least stopping on a drive through. I know one couple who enjoyed trips to Louisville, especially the zoo. Yet another couple were big fans of the zoo in Cincinnati. My wife and I did make a suburban (?) Cincinnati day trip to check out IKEA and Jungle Jims a couple of years ago. I haven't been to Over-the-Rhine in about 17 years, but I've heard it has changed a lot. Hopefully for the better because when I went it was to go to a club called The Warehouse on Vine Street. There was a guy with what looked like crack rocks in his hand talking to us as we parked (just making small talk, I think he knew were weren't there for what he was selling), and across the street someone threw a glass bottle at a wall near a Kroger and it shattered.

What I'm left wondering is where in the world are the people that live in all these hip, urban, cultured places getting all their money to pay to eat out constantly, pay for all these museums and what not, on top of what seems to be sky high rents? It seems the focus of the these city vs city threads have a lot of "we have more of x, y, and z." But usually these things cost money, and in some cases, they aren't cheap. I look at government stats of household incomes. I see what my wife and I make, I see how we have lived to get what we have, then I wonder how some of you manage to save a nickle to your name engaging in all this urban 'culture.' Then again, maybe people are pretty much broke, lucky to have $500 in savings, and living credit card statement to credit card statement.

Everything costs money.

In many cases those of us who live in cities, are childless.

People's values change over time. If you're younger and single, you're a lot more likely to desire an urban environment with all those things you mentioned. Of course, it helps to have a good job to pay for those amenities.

Children cost money, obviously. That's why in so many cases (not all cases), once people settle down and start raising a family, they move to the suburbs. Again, helps to have a good job to raise a family.

[Shakeesha]

Originally Posted by Peter1948

I agree, that was a bad example but Tampa is not a dump. There are plenty of areas though like Hyde Park, St Pete, etc

That said, the point is Indy feels like a sunbelt city, not an urban high cultured city. Cincinnati blows Indy out of the water...and I dont even adore Cincinnati really outside the architecture in Over the Rhine. I wish Louisville had Over the Rhine down here and then it would be my perfect city.

I agree. Indianapolis was not what I expected given the hype I read on here and by my friends that live in the city. It reminded me of Oklahoma City a lot. I did not know that it would be so rural looking. To be as large as it is, I expected more. I feel like Louisville flies under the radar because most of the people commenting on it have never been there, or only drove by the city on I-65. Indianapolis is not as urban as Louisville or Cincinnati.